Blair Walsh had a chance to play hero in the final seconds against the Seahawks on Sunday afternoon when he took the field to try a 27-yard field goal that would have given the Vikings their first postseason win since 2009.
Walsh hooked the kick left, however, and the Vikings were left to watch the Seahawks celebrate a 10-9 victory that puts them in the divisional round against the Panthers. Walsh said after the game that he didn’t take the short field goal for granted and that it wasn’t a problem with the hold, blaming the miss on himself because he “just didn’t put a swing on it that’s acceptable by anybody’s standards.”
“I’ll be working hard to erase that from my career but it’ll take a while. It’s just ridiculous. You’ve got to do better than that,” Walsh said, via Brian Murphy of the Pioneer Press. “I’m excited where this team’s gonna go. But when they needed me in this moment, I didn’t come through for them. That hurts.”
Holder Jeff Locke referenced the laces of the ball facing in when Walsh took the kick by saying he “definitely could have spun the ball better” despite wearing gloves because of the cold weather. Locke called the miss something the entire unit shares and that it felt like “a big gut shot” that his hold wasn’t up to his standards.
It’s safe to say Locke won’t be the only person in Minnesota feeling a big gut shot after the Vikings fell short on Sunday.